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Grim Truth 92/14/11
Nov. 14th, 2009 12:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alt_siriusGreetings, British Wizarding World!
Thus far, our chats have mostly arisen in reaction to events that we can all read, such as incidents at Hogwarts or articles in the Daily Prophet, or that we all know to be real, such as the truth about the internment camps and the ills of slavery. This time, for the first time, I am forced to take on the role of a journalist and, to borrow the Muggle term, ‘whistle-blower.’ The Ministry, in addition to forcing you all to perpetuate a grossly unjust society, have also endeavoured over the past several weeks to conceal and contain a serious health threat. My sources inside the Protectorate confirm that the recall of Muggleborn labourers issued on 12 November is actually due to fear of spreading a virulent illness – one for which the Ministry and St Mungo’s have no ready cure.
The disease first appeared in Muggle camps and populations, but has been growing steadily more persistent. This ‘Hertforshire Scourge,’ so-named because the first reported cases seemed to centre in that county, has spread dramatically throughout the camps, steadily increasing to a recent estimate of 40,000 new cases per week. Originally, the Ministry denied the existence of a problem at all. As it progressed, they insisted to St Mungo’s healers and to its own employees and camp administrations that the illness could not be contracted by anyone possessed of magic. Now it has jumped to the Muggleborn population and, by all reports, it has also increased in severity as it has taken on a new strain. In short, unless it is checked, it can only be a matter of time before the virus will transmit to witches and wizards.
Witnesses have reported that both variants include flu-like symptoms, high fever, sweats and chills. In the Muggleborn strain, those who fall ill are well one hour and debillitated the next; it rarely emerges overnight, preferring to strike at the end of the day – perhaps this is due to fatigue or to some insidious talent of the disease itself to take maximum advantage of the hours during which a person is contagious before showing symptoms. The earliest symptoms are much like those of a very bad flu or cold: severe fatigue, headache, joint pain, sore throat, cough, creeping congestion. Then the tell-tale sign seems to be the onset of a ruby flush to the skin, usually about the time the first spike of fever manifests. These cyclic fevers can rise very high indeed. Some of the victims may never recover from the damage done by this alone, even if their other symptoms eventually abate. Meanwhile, the flush also develops into a full-fledged rash. As the victims dehydrate, the affected flesh flakes, cracks and peels. Next, many of the victims experience paralysis, beginning with their lower limbs and progressing until they lose even the ability to move their eyes; others fall directly into coma, making it impossible to tell if their limbs have been affected as in the other category of sufferers.
The situation has become so dire already that several camps have been forced to convert significant portions of available shelter into sick wards – if they can be called that, since almost nothing is being done to tend to the ill and dying. There is hope, of course, and not all cases are severe, but the research into the disease thus far has only been able to eliminate causes, not identify cures. The first step is vital to the Healers’ eventual success, but it is not enough.
Friends, I do not raise the alarm on the Hertfordshire Scourge merely to frighten you. It is only a matter of time before someone contracts the disease outside of a labour camp. When that happens, there is every reason to believe that the disease will mutate again, perhaps becoming even more dangerous than it already is.
Witches and wizards of Britain, you must insist that the Ministry and St Mungo’s devote every necessary resource to finding the cure for this horrible virus. You must demand that the effort continue with all possible speed. Most importantly, you must require the camps and Ministry to cooperate fully, including complete disclosure among their agencies, to contain and reverse this devastating disease, or everyone will be at risk. That is more than a warning: It is the Grim Truth.
Thus far, our chats have mostly arisen in reaction to events that we can all read, such as incidents at Hogwarts or articles in the Daily Prophet, or that we all know to be real, such as the truth about the internment camps and the ills of slavery. This time, for the first time, I am forced to take on the role of a journalist and, to borrow the Muggle term, ‘whistle-blower.’ The Ministry, in addition to forcing you all to perpetuate a grossly unjust society, have also endeavoured over the past several weeks to conceal and contain a serious health threat. My sources inside the Protectorate confirm that the recall of Muggleborn labourers issued on 12 November is actually due to fear of spreading a virulent illness – one for which the Ministry and St Mungo’s have no ready cure.
The disease first appeared in Muggle camps and populations, but has been growing steadily more persistent. This ‘Hertforshire Scourge,’ so-named because the first reported cases seemed to centre in that county, has spread dramatically throughout the camps, steadily increasing to a recent estimate of 40,000 new cases per week. Originally, the Ministry denied the existence of a problem at all. As it progressed, they insisted to St Mungo’s healers and to its own employees and camp administrations that the illness could not be contracted by anyone possessed of magic. Now it has jumped to the Muggleborn population and, by all reports, it has also increased in severity as it has taken on a new strain. In short, unless it is checked, it can only be a matter of time before the virus will transmit to witches and wizards.
Witnesses have reported that both variants include flu-like symptoms, high fever, sweats and chills. In the Muggleborn strain, those who fall ill are well one hour and debillitated the next; it rarely emerges overnight, preferring to strike at the end of the day – perhaps this is due to fatigue or to some insidious talent of the disease itself to take maximum advantage of the hours during which a person is contagious before showing symptoms. The earliest symptoms are much like those of a very bad flu or cold: severe fatigue, headache, joint pain, sore throat, cough, creeping congestion. Then the tell-tale sign seems to be the onset of a ruby flush to the skin, usually about the time the first spike of fever manifests. These cyclic fevers can rise very high indeed. Some of the victims may never recover from the damage done by this alone, even if their other symptoms eventually abate. Meanwhile, the flush also develops into a full-fledged rash. As the victims dehydrate, the affected flesh flakes, cracks and peels. Next, many of the victims experience paralysis, beginning with their lower limbs and progressing until they lose even the ability to move their eyes; others fall directly into coma, making it impossible to tell if their limbs have been affected as in the other category of sufferers.
The situation has become so dire already that several camps have been forced to convert significant portions of available shelter into sick wards – if they can be called that, since almost nothing is being done to tend to the ill and dying. There is hope, of course, and not all cases are severe, but the research into the disease thus far has only been able to eliminate causes, not identify cures. The first step is vital to the Healers’ eventual success, but it is not enough.
Friends, I do not raise the alarm on the Hertfordshire Scourge merely to frighten you. It is only a matter of time before someone contracts the disease outside of a labour camp. When that happens, there is every reason to believe that the disease will mutate again, perhaps becoming even more dangerous than it already is.
Witches and wizards of Britain, you must insist that the Ministry and St Mungo’s devote every necessary resource to finding the cure for this horrible virus. You must demand that the effort continue with all possible speed. Most importantly, you must require the camps and Ministry to cooperate fully, including complete disclosure among their agencies, to contain and reverse this devastating disease, or everyone will be at risk. That is more than a warning: It is the Grim Truth.
